With data from the FinScope survey of 2003 and the Namibia Household Income and Expenditure Survey 2003/2004 NEPRU elaborated this report to determine whether improved access to financial services could contribute to poverty alleviation strategies’ in rural Namibia. The authors argue that there is either a negative or a nonexistent relationship between improved access to financial services and household income and that there is either a negative or nonexistent relationship between improved access to financial services and a food consumption ratio. Through statistical analysis, the report concludes that while access to financial services is associated with higher levels of income and that lower levels of income are associated with a dearth of access to financial services, access to those services may not be itself sufficient to alleviate poverty.